The President/CEO of the Digital Bridge Institute DBI), Engr. Prof. Mohammed Ajiya FHEA, FNSE, FNIEEE delivered a paper at an industry development Seminar organized by the Centre for Information Technology (CITAD) in collaboration with NITDA held on 10th February 2021.

The seminar was focused on the development of local content in the ICT sector in Nigeria. Other speakers at the event included Mr. Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, (DG, NITDA) Mr. Chris Uwajie (Renowned ICT Expert) and Mr. Will Anyaegbunam (MD, Beta Computers). The speakers all addressed strategic roadmap towards ensuring the building of a sustainable platform for competitive local content in the ICT sector in Nigeria.

The President/CEO of DBI noted that there is a huge skills gap in the ICT sector in Africa. He mentioned that while Nigeria has high prevalence of available skills in social media, graphics, web development and networking, the country displays relatively low levels of skills in game development, artificial intelligence, software development and other related skills.

He therefore called for collaborative efforts between all government agencies and the industry stakeholders to build adequate digital capacity within the country as laid out in National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020-2030 and other policy documents. He expressed optimism that such effort will make Nigeria an exporter of contents in the ICT industry in the immediate future.

He informed of the NCC’s intervention in the empowerment of Nigerians on digital literacy through the Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme in Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI) which has led to the empowerment of over 70,000 staff of tertiary institutions in the country. He appreciated the support of the NCC under the able leadership of Prof. U.G Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO.

Prof. Ajiya commended the strategic efforts of the Hon. Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami who is leading initiatives towards enabling a self-sustaining ICT sector through impactful policy direction.